Multimodal Transport of Goods, CMR and the Effects on the Liability Regime of the Persons Involved in the Whole Carriage Operation

Nowadays the trade sector – especially after the great development of containerised transport and of technologies for transferring cargo – demands a comprehensive service offer permitting to deliver goods to the place of destination, therefore including door-to-door transport services, that also involve ancillary activities, such as warehousing, stevedoring, etc. Despite its importance, a specific international, EU and often national law specifically governing multimodal transport is still lacking. Some international conventions on the carriage of goods also refer also to certain types of carriage of goods by different transport modes. One of them is the CMR, which applies also to the ‘mode-on-mode’ transport. However, according to some authors, the transport superposé described by the CMR cannot be considered multimodal transport, as some of the requirements are not met. Moreover the provisions on the persons, who could be entitled to avail themselves of the carrier’s special regime of liability or for whose default or wilful misconduct the carrier is liable for, differ considerably among the international conventions on the international carriage of goods by single transport modes. The article examines the CMR’s scope with regard to the different types of contracts for the carriage door-to-door carriage, the limits on its application to multimodal transport and the effects on the liability regime of the persons the carrier/MTO/freight forwarder avails himself of for the performance of the whole carriage operation. The research also involves the comparison among the provisions of the different international conventions and the related case-law, concerning the persons for whose performance the carrier is liable for and who could avail themselves of the latter’s liability regime.